Project: One powered by Garage Star

Spettro · 07-29-2012, 09:28 PM

Update: Follow me on Twitter and Instagram, my handle for both is @elliotmeme. Feel free to add me as a friend on Facebook as well. I'll be using all of those media outlets to provide updates from the track at each event.

Thanks for clicking; I am honored to introduce my recently acquired track car, which is now powered by Kenjo and the Garage Star Team! I feel very privileged to be driving under the banner of one of the most respected small businesses within the Miata community. First and foremost, I must thank Ken yet again for the opportunity. Our goal with this chassis is to help promote the Garage Star brand of Miata parts and accessories, and also use the car for R&D of future Garage Star offerings so that YOU the customer can rest assure that you’re buying a quality product. My own personal goal is to not only assist Ken with his R&D, but to help to promote the Miata as a functional and economical track car, and promote myself as a developing driver. I will do my best to document any and all progress on the car from here on out, as well as provide feedback and answer questions regarding Garage Star products in use on this vehicle. So without further ado, here is Project One:

Current Car Specs as of 7/29/12:

Chassis:
-1995 M Edition Miata
-Flyin’ Miata Frame Rails
-Garage Star license plate bracket

Suspension:
-949 Racing Xida Coilovers 550/350
-Flyin’ Miata NB front sway bar
-Spherical adjustable sway bar end links front and rear

Wheels & Tires:
-15x9 949 Racing Gen2 6UL’s
-225/45 Nitto NT01 tires

Brakes:
-Hawk HPS pads (HP+ brakes currently on order)
-OEM rotors
-SuperBlue DOT4 fluid

Body:
-Rolled and pulled fenders
-Hood spacers
-OEM Mazda hard top
-R Package front lip

Interior:
-Garage Star hard top brackets
-Garage Star 2.75” shift extender
-Removal of all carpet
-Removal of center console
-Removal of door panels and speakers
-Removal of stereo and glove compartment
-Bride replica bucket seat
-Hard Dog roll bar
-Techno Toy Tuning JGTC nylon shift knob
-Fully functioning a/c, p/s, cruise control

Drivetrain:
-Stock 1.8 long block
-Stock intake, exhaust, and fuel systems
-OEM clutch & flywheel
-Stock 5 speed transmission
-Stock 4.1 Torsen differential

Future Plans Short Term:
Continue to strip weight from the car and the driver, clean up the chassis and lay down paint in a few areas, and keep making shake down runs at the track to dial everything in for next season.

Future Plans Long Term:
Use the chassis as a test mule for all Garage Star products, and continue making drivetrain, suspension, brake, and driver modifications in order to help improve lap times.

Be sure to check back for updates and keep up with the car and what’s happening at Garage Star by visiting the website.

Pictures of Project One follow, please excuse the very dirty/dusty interior, I’ve not had time to clean it or paint it yet due to a tight schedule before the next event.

garageSTAR · 07-29-2012, 09:46 PM

I can't wait for this beast to hit the track next month!

del_barry · 07-29-2012, 10:13 PM

Love it! Wish I lived near a badass company and didn't have a shitbox miata lol

Chase! · 07-29-2012, 10:22 PM

Stoked!

Spettro · 07-30-2012, 12:30 AM

Got the ignition timing reset to 10 degrees BTDC so that my visit to the lovely smog shop tomorrow goes well hopefully. Also reconsidering the mirror color choice, it looked good in my head but now that they're on the car... I don't know. I might take them off and respray them black or gray tomorrow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by del_barry

Love it! Wish I lived near a badass company and didn't have a shitbox miata lol

It's not really about what you drive, it's more about how you drive it and how much effort you're willing to put in to become a better driver on track. Having a clean car isn't all it's cracked up to be, and this car is far from being clean.

carlosvasquez · 07-31-2012, 07:50 PM

What seat bracket do you have? Considering getting the same seat.

Spettro · 07-31-2012, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlosvasquez

What seat bracket do you have? Considering getting the same seat.

It has the brackets that are usually offered by the shops you can purchase the seats from for an additional 60-100 dollars bolted to stock Miata seat rails for the time being. This is a temporary solution until I can get some additional safety equipment in the car and then bolt the seat to the floor.

Spettro · 08-01-2012, 10:57 PM

Had a little time to tinker with the car tonight while I listened to the Giants and Mets game. Got some of the Garage Star Dress Up Bolts on the car. All of the bolts threaded in nicely and snugged up centered in the supplied washers first try, I am very pleased with the installation process. As a tip though, only do one bolt at a time for the fenders and bumper as taking them all out can cause the panel to shift out of the original alignment. Sorry for the nasty flash bulb pictures but one of the lights is out in my garage so I couldn't get good lighting.

Spettro · 08-16-2012, 03:16 PM

This update has been a long time coming, I've just been busy with a new job, getting ready for the track weekend, and then actually going to the track weekend, and hospital visits for my hand. I'll try to give a rundown of recent events though:

I was able to get a pair of GarageStar tow hooks installed before the track weekend. These allowed me to eliminate the so-called baby teeth. The GarageStar tow hooks are incredibly strong (I can stand on them with no flexing) and they weigh about the same as one stock tow loop, so by removing the 4 stock loops and adding the two hooks, I lost a bit more weight off the car. I'm unsure of the exact weight of the tow hooks because I do not own a postal scale, but I'm sure Ken knows so feel free to ask him if you're looking into these. The tow hooks went on with ease in about 10 minutes each. The front hook has a hole cut-out for the GarageStar license plate bracket, so I was able to run the front plate to and from the track to keep the CA Highway Patrol happy.

I also acquired a Spec Miata exhaust from my new boss to run at the track. It's loud but it meets the 103db maximum at Thunderhill Raceway Park. I think I'll get a header soon to match the straight through potential of the exhaust, although the OEM manifold worked well for the weekend.

I also swapped in a JDM cluster I actually purchased from Ken a long time ago. I have plans to use this in a future retro NA build but for now it's right at home in Project: One. I can't seem to get the oil pressure gauge to work though, any thoughts? I'm assuming it's because I have a 95 so I have the dummy oil pressure gauge on the engine not the 90-94 active one, would changing the sensor fix the issue?

And last to go on the car but certainly not least was a brand new set of Hawk HP+ pads all around with new OEM rotors, and a flushing of the brake fluid. Got this nice burnt look on the rotors after bedding the pads. It's a lot more colorful in person, al-la Amuse exhuast tip color.

Then disaster struck. On Friday the 10th (the day I was leaving for the track) while working on getting one of the rusty bolts off the OEM exhaust, the nut stripped suddenly causing my right hand to smash into the transmission extremely hard (I was using maximum force with 2 opposing wrenches). At first I didn't think much of it; no blood, a little stinging, but I figured I was okay. Not so. After about an hour my hand was in extreme pain and I decided I needed to get it looked at, so I headed down to the Minor Injury clinic. The doctor looked at it and said I had broken something for sure but without xrays he wouldn't know exactly how bad. He suggested an xray which had a 3 hour wait and then casting it. I agreed but made a sneaky escape after leaving the MI clinic. I couldn't race with a cast! So I went home to ponder my options. After an hour of icing, the hand felt slightly better, and I have an abnormally high pain tolerance, so I took the grinder out and cut the bolt off the exhaust and got the new one installed by myself on the driveway with jack stands. By this time I was in massive pain so I checked my fluids, packed up the car, and hit the road for the track.

I could barely sleep the night of the 10th at the motel due to the pain. I had it taped up and was icing it, but it kept me up most of the night. I thought about what I was going to do... it was my right hand, my shifting and steering hand, and if it had hurt badly shifting slowly at highway speeds on the way to the track, how bad was it going to be actually on the track?

Saturday morning we got to the track early and set-up. My friends were nice enough to help me unload heavy items, rig my camera, and remove my passenger seat. I headed out on track for the first session of the day. The ambient temperature was already about 78 degrees at 8:45am, and the track was extremely slick. I had my hands full the entire first session, which was not a good thing considering my injury. I could barely get my right glove on due to the swelling in my hand. I ran my fastest time of the day in the first session at a 2:18.456 (ccw cyclone configuration) because as the temperature went up, the slower everyone got. The high for the day was recorded at 110 degrees, nasty...

Sunday morning I was still in a lot of pain, but I was determined to run better that day. I sucked it up and headed out on track for the first session and clocked a 2:16.354 fast lap (ccw bypass configuration). After the 2nd session I was fed up with being held up by slower traffic (I was in the novice group), so I asked to be moved up a run group to the "Point-By" group. I had an instructor in the car for my 3rd session to evaluate me and make sure I'd do okay in the quicker group. He said I did perfectly and I even managed a 2:15.763 with him in the car. In the 4th session of the day, the ambient temp had climbed to about 98 degrees and I measured track temps with my IR gun at 148 degrees. I went balls out on my 2nd to last lap, to what I felt was the limit of the tires without over driving and over heating them. I managed a 2:14.020 lap, almost in the 13s, but not quite. The last session of the day I drove my friend's Miata to try and help him solve a handling issue, and managed a 2:22 in his car on the 2nd lap out (1.6, 4.1 torsen, stance gr+'s, stock sways, same wheels and tires as me but much older and harder). There is almost a 10mph difference between his car and mine down the front straight due to the engine size and gearing.

Here's a video of my 2:14.020 lap. Keep in mind this is with a broken pinky knuckle and every shift sends searing pain through my body.

This is how wheels look after a track day when used properly. Offset is nothing compared to rolled up rubber from pushing your car.

Then on Tuesday, I made it back to the doctor for an xray. I should have asked for a copy but I forgot. The upper pinky knuckle is busted open like an acorn, so I got a fancy splint. Makes working a joke, and typing frustrating, but I have to keep it on so scar tissue doesn't build up inside the knuckle and cause me permanant pain for the rest of my life. I have another appointment for Thursday the 23rd to have the splint removed and it re-evaluated, but I'm headed back to the track the 24th. So I'll likely have it unsupported for the Friday so I can steer, and then I'll go get a cast the following Monday, but that will have to come off by September 15th because I'm trying to make a Buttonwillow weekend then... So we'll see, Buttonwillow might have to wait but if there is any way I can possibly race, I'm doing it.

All in all it was an excellent weekend, I'm proud of my times considering this was my first time on track in over 4 years (used to race shifters, TAGs, gas powered indoor karts, and a few days in a Type R swapped EG hatch time attack car).

And finally, yesterday I received a package from Ken at GarageStar with a brand spanking new cooling panel and a ton of stickers! Thanks Ken.

If you plan to be at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, CA on August 24th with the NCRC group, come find me, have a chat, and grab a sticker! If you'd like a ride along you're more than welcome, I'll even try to borrow a spare helmet for those interested in case you don't own one. Admittance to the track is free if you're not participating, so come on down, sign the waver at the gate, and please keep your speed to 10mph in the Paddock when you go looking for where I'm pitted. I'm even going to try and drag Ken's butt out there for the day to get some photos and content for his site.

Stay tuned for more updates, I'll try not to lag so hard between updates anymore but with my hand wrapped up working on the car is a little tough. I have a lot more video from the track I might upload, but my computer has a super slow upload rate so putting videos on youtube takes several hours. I'm wanting to do a video run-down of the car so look for that in the coming month as well as a "drive-and-talk" where I drive the car around and talk about what it's like to live with, track with, and work on.

Thanks again to Ken at GarageStar for all the help and support. I appreciate all the help and support I get from everyone, including my parents, sister, friends Sam, Milton, and Ramez, and my new boss Dante. If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer, and if you're interested in helping support my run up to the Chrono series any help is greatly appreciated.

etikoner · 08-16-2012, 04:37 PM

I'm so jealous haha. This would be my car if I was in the west coast hahaha.

Sucks about what happened to your hand, you're fucking crazy driving like that lol!!!!

Hope it heals soon and that way you won't have to juggle between your health or a track day, lol...

Also, I plan on swapping my gauges out for an older set... I think that changing the oil sender to an older one should make the gauge work

I'm keeping my eye on this, it's pretty sweet.

Spettro · 08-16-2012, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by etikoner

I'm so jealous haha. This would be my car if I was in the west coast hahaha.

Sucks about what happened to your hand, you're fucking crazy driving like that lol!!!!

Hope it heals soon and that way you won't have to juggle between your health or a track day, lol...

Also, I plan on swapping my gauges out for an older set... I think that changing the oil sender to an older one should make the gauge work

I'm keeping my eye on this, it's pretty sweet.

Right on man, thanks. Yeah it sucks driving with a busted hand, but I'm also being smart about it. If I'd gone out on track and felt like I was a danger to myself or the other drivers due to the injury I would have parked it for the day. Thanks for the support, I'll try and check out your build a little bit later.

Spettro · 08-17-2012, 05:56 PM

Here's a full session video from Sunday. Finally finished uploading, holy crap Youtube is slow for uploading...

I have a nice little off on my 2nd lap at turn 11 after passing a Viper. I simply came in too hot, it was my own fault. I go to the pits as per the event organizer's rules after the off to talk to the steward but I cut that out since you don't want to see 3 minutes of me trying to explain myself to her. This video includes my 2:14.020 lap which I made an individual video of. I have another session I'll try to upload as well, but it could take a couple days.

Spettro · 08-23-2012, 09:47 PM

Got the cooling panel on this evening in the process of gearing up for the track tomorrow. Fits perfect as always, the install only took a few minutes, and hopefully it allows me more laps on track before the heat needle starts to creep into the hot range.

I'll be sort of double sessioning the car tomorrow because I may be assisting the driving school group if needed, which requires me to be on track for all their sessions in my own car helping teach the new drivers where the racing line is and how to safely and properly pass at an HPDE by following them and leading them around on track. So this panel will get put to the test, as the driving school group is right before my group goes out, so the car will be on track for a little under an hour each time, although the driving school pace is no where near the limit of the cooling system since it's more about learning to drive on a track with other cars vs. just doing hot laps all day.

I also went to the doctor this morning to get my hand re-evaluated (the splint came off yesterday). I was able to avoid getting a hard cast in favor of a removable splint/brace that I can take off when I'm driving, showering, eating, etc. After another round of x-rays I yet again forgot to request copies of, the doctor determined that the knuckle has partially rolled under the metacarpal and cannot be fixed. My knuckle will be forever slightly out of place, but I should regain full movement of my pinky within the next 4-6 weeks. The only sad news is there is a small piece of a tendon trapped between the knuckle and metacarpal, so the pain when I put stress on that area of my hand could last for a year, maybe 10, maybe 50+ he said. I guess the lesson here is think before you start pushing on a wrench about what your hand could hit if the bolt breaks or the wrench slips.

That's the updates for the car and my hand for now, I doubt my hand will be making another update as this is a build thread not an injury thread, I just wanted to show you all why updates have been coming so slowly as of late since I've been limited and will continue to be for another month or so. But it's all good, because I leave tomorrow morning for another day at the track. I'll be taking video once again, and I'll try to figure out a little better camera position this time.

Spettro · 08-26-2012, 11:02 PM

Spent the last 2 days uploading all my videos so I can put them all in one post. Some of them are still in the post youtube editing process to remove shaking and the black bars.

The track day on the 24th was nuts, all kinds of on-track drama. A Corvette blew his engine in one of the groups and dropped oil all over the track causing a BMW to go out of control but the driver made one hell of a save. An S13 front 240sx blew a tire bead. And a few other cars I can't remember had to be towed or ended up having major problems. Project: One on the other had, did very well. I dropped my fastest time to a 2:12.326 CCW Bypass Configuration, which was 1.7 seconds faster than a couple weeks ago. I'm still 2.3 seconds off my goal, but at least I'm headed in the right direction (Spec Miata's run anywhere from 2:06's-2:08's on the same track in the same configuration as a comparison). I ended up instructing for driving school, which put me on track in my own car following and leading students around to teach them how to properly pass and drive the generic racing line in their own cars. 3 of their 5 sessions are "hot" sessions, where they are allowed to go as fast as they feel comfortable, so my car basically had 40 minute sessions at a time, as my run group was right after Driving School. The GarageStar cooling panel helped way more than I believed it ever would. Just two weeks ago I was overheating in the afternoon sessions after 10-15 minutes on track, and although the ambient temperature was about 10-12 degrees cooler this Friday, the car still didn't creep past the middle point on the tempurature gauge even after 40 minutes straight of hard driving. I was very impressed. If you drive your car agressively at all, even in the backroads, do yourself a favor and pick up a cooling panel from Ken. I'm sure results would be even better if I had a thick core aluminum radiator, which is on the near future modification list.

Here are the videos from the day, sorry some are good quality and others aren't, I'm not very good at the whole youtube thing yet.

This was my fast lap of the day at 2:12.326 in HD:

These are the full sessions in order from 1-5. I had passengers in the 4th and 5th session so it's a little hard to see what's going on out the windshield, sorry. I have a nice little spin in session 1 at turn 11 yet again. In the 5th session I have a playful not-so-serious battle with my buddy Gagan in his Impreza toward the end of the video. The 3rd session was my most consistant with almost all of my laps being in the high 2:13 to low 2:14 range, with a high 2:12 mixed in there as well. I don't know what happened with the upload for session 4, it's all tiny, but I only did about 3 laps because I was about to run out of fuel anyway.

Ken at GarageStar and I talked last night and there are a lot of parts in the works that are going to be tested on this car. I'm talking some really trick parts that are very functional, yet would provide benefits to street, stanced, slammed, show, or track Miatas. I can't spill any details just yet, but stay tuned, because the next 6 months could see a lot of prototype stuff go on this car in preperation for the Chrono series next year.

vintagerust · 08-26-2012, 11:06 PM

(Crosses fingers for affordable, simple brake master cylinder brace.)

Spettro · 09-03-2012, 01:18 PM

Got a few minutes this morning to work on the car, so I removed the cruise control since it hasn't worked ever since installing the JDM cluster. Doesn't weigh much so not sure I'll see any benefit other than the engine bay being less cluttered. I also picked up some new stickers from Ken on Saturday, so look for those to be on the car before Buttonwillow. I'm headed up to Ken's today to get a new rollbar as well with a harness bar so I can ditch this stock seatbelt and order a harness. After that I'll be ordering a new steering wheel set-up. None of this will make the car go faster, but it'll make me a bit more comfortable in the car which should help me focus more on the driver mod. Planning to sell the current Hard Dog bar probably, but if I decide to keep it for some reason it may go in Project: Two.

viice · 09-03-2012, 01:31 PM

Which Spec Miata exhaust did you say that was?

Spettro · 09-03-2012, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by viice

Which Spec Miata exhaust did you say that was?

I'm not sure what exhaust it is, all I know is it came off my boss's Spec Miata when he bought it from a guy in Washington I think. He already had his own SM exhaust from a previous chassis so he removed this one and held onto it for a few years at his shop until I asked him if he wanted to sell it. It's basically just a straight pipe with some sort of very small box muffler on the back, I don't think it's from MazdaComp or anything like that. It's very loud even with the box muffler, not streetable at all, and I'm pretty deff by the time a track day is over.

Spettro · 09-14-2012, 02:54 PM

I've been really busy with school starting back up and everything and I'm pressed for time today as I'm trying to get on the road and still need to pack up a few things. But here's a quick update with some junky cell phone pictures from my vintage blackberry.

I installed an EGR roll bar, but only to find out that is restricted my seat travel due to being on OEM rails with a bucket seat, so I had to remove it and return to my Hard Dog, which I bought a harness bar for. Ken has something that he will be releasing soon to fix this problem though! I also bought a Crow 6 point harness with a Kam Lock system. It's an excellent belt, I can't wait to try it out this weekend. I'll get pictures of it up soon.

Yesterday I took the car into the automotive school I attend and got all the fluids changed or checked out and made sure all the suspension and brakes were in good shape. Everything checked out fine.

Headed off to Buttonwillow in a few hours for a weekend track day and Chrono Series event. I'm not running in Chrono until next year, but my buddies Ramez and Marios are both in 2nd place in their respective classes and are hoping to take the championship in S2K Modified and GT1 respectively. Ramez obviously runs an S2000, Marios has a Evo 9. If you're going to be at Buttonwillow this weekend stop by and say hello and grab a sticker. Bring a helmet if you want a ride along, I will have my passenger seat with me. Always happy to chat with fellow Miata owners.

Big sticker is big. Thanks to Ken at Garage Star for everything. I'll report back with an update after the weekend I'm sure.

xbeatles4x · 09-14-2012, 03:54 PM

Damn. if only you were closer we could switch hardtops.

Spettro · 09-14-2012, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xbeatles4x

Damn. if only you were closer we could switch hardtops.

You have a carbon fibre OEM style hard top with a lexan window?

Spettro · 09-17-2012, 11:59 PM

The car managed to survive the 1200 kilometers I put on it over the weekend. Buttonwillow was a great experience for me. I learned a lot about the car and how to drive it that I can now apply to other tracks I go to. We ran CW Config 1 on Saturday and CCW Config 1 on Sunday. That Star Mazda turn going CCW really forces you to be on your game, I was hanging the tail out under braking almost every lap and barely keeping the thing from going sideways into the dirt. I also really enjoyed rally jumping the curbing at the Bus Stop all weekend, although I think I might have bent one or two of my 6ULs or possibly stretched some lug studs, I won't be able to check until Thursday though. No videos from this weekend, sorry. Ken showed up on Sunday and took some pictures so as soon as he emails them to me I'll post those up. Ken, get on your game man! I ran a 2:19.1 CW and a 2:20.1 CCW for my fast times of the weekend. No idea if that's good or not since most track day groups and race series don't run the #1 Configuration, but I felt like I was pushing the car very hard both days.

Both of my friends won the championships in Chrono S2K Modified and Chrono GT1 on Sunday, so well done to them.

Check back for pictures from the track weekend as well as an update as to whether I'll need to dig into my stockpile of 6UL spares...

garageSTAR · 09-18-2012, 02:40 AM

Spettro · 10-05-2012, 09:59 PM

Long time no post. The car has been pretty dormant since work has picked up for me a lot lately and I don't have a ton of time to work on this thing, plus I might end up swapping to Project: Two for the track next year so I'm not sure how much more I'll be adding to this chassis, but we'll see.

Currently the car is at Limitless Motorsport in San Bruno, CA getting some prototype Garage Star fender braces installed. I will be testing these out in a week at Thunderhill Raceway to give Ken feedback on the performance of the braces. I'll be sure to post my testing results here as well. If you want to see what the fender braces look like on my car check out the Garage Star Facebook page.

spitefulcheerio · 10-06-2012, 07:43 AM

Jelly

can't wait for my set

Spettro · 10-06-2012, 10:59 AM

They will be released very soon don't worry, Ken just wants to make sure they are going to be 100% solid for track and street use before taking them to market.

Spettro · 10-14-2012, 06:54 PM

Couple videos from Friday below. I was testing the new Garage Star fender braces. Temperatures were very cool which assisted in a new fast lap record for myself. Seems as though it's time for new brakes already unfortunately. 7 events was all I could manage out of them so I'll be looking into Carbotechs perhaps this time. Hawk HP+'s just aren't cutting it anymore, time to step up to Blues or maybe something similar from Carbotech or another company. Also might be time for some tires, my NT01s still have plenty of rubber left on them but I thnk they're about heat cycled out. I might try R888s next when I get new tires. I'd love to step up to a DOT R-Comp2 tire like the R6, but since I don't have a truck or trailer I'm out of luck there.

Here are the videos with my new Go Pro. I'm still trying to figure out how to use all the functions and I only have a 4GB memory card currently so I could only record 2 sessions of video unfortunately. Hopefully next time I'll be able to record all my sessions. In the 2nd session video I take a Subaru on the outside of turn 3, but apparently there was a yellow flag for the spin way over at turn 5a being displayed at 3 I didn't see so I got black flagged. Kind of lame but nothing I can really do about it. In the 3rd session video I chase my teammate Justin around for a few laps before lets me by. A couple laps later I go rallying near the turn 3 exit to show all the Subarus and Evos how it's done. The last video is just my one hot lap on its own.

Spettro · 10-21-2012, 11:23 PM

Life's been giving me a rough go of it, so I made a very last minute decision last night to sign up for a Laguna Seca track day today. I was totally not in the right frame of mind to be at the track and as a result I ended up doing some damage to the car after dropping wheels off at the exit of turn 6. The curbing has a good sized drop off to the dirt and I bottomed the car out really hard. The suspension and/or subframe is likely damaged, the alignment is out of wack, and the car is now making a creaking noise during left hand corners similar to a creepy door closing noise from a horror movie. Really praying I didn't screw up a shock body as I can't afford a new set of Xidas right now. We'll see. Videos will be up later in the week, stay tuned. I'll be putting the car on a lift and alignment rack as soon as possible to inspect the extent of the damage.

etikoner · 10-22-2012, 12:19 PM

ouch

hope it's not too bad man..

Spettro · 10-24-2012, 12:07 AM

Sorry this isn't really much of a build thread, I can see there's not a ton of interest which I expected since I'm more just driving the car then actually adding stuff to it. But I did just order some parts that should be here next week that I'll be throwing on the car so hopefully that will make this thread a bit more exciting than just amature hour onboard videos in every post.

Here are the videos from Sunday at Laguna Seca. Please keep in mind this was my first time ever at this track so in the first session I look like a rookie trying to figure out exactly what line I want to take through each corner. Ended up with a fast lap of the day at a 1:50.778, which is very disappointing. I'm about 3 seconds off the pace of the fast Spec Miata guys, but that time would probably qualify me around 10th-15th on the grid of say 45 cars, which frankly isn't good enough for me. I'll be back to Laguna though, probably at the very end of December. Hopefully I'm in a better frame of mind next time so I go faster and don't make lots of stupid mistakes that cost me time and damage to the chassis.

Videos follow, here's a quick run down of what went on if you care to read: In session one I was just trying to figure out where my car had grip and where it didn't and get an idea for how quickly I could get through each corner individually. The session was shortened because I think a 350Z blew a transmission or sheered off a clutch fork or something, and someone else had an issue on track somewhere so they needed time to bring out the tow trucks. In the second session I went much quicker, and about 3-4 laps into the session I started hunting down a Type-997 GT3RS, be sure to check that out if you're a fan of the Miata's track potential. The third session went alright I guess, I was having fun trying to catch people and I was experimenting with different lines and braking points to see if I could find more speed anywhere. In the 4th session I was again experimenting with different things on the track until I made a really, really stupid rookie mistake and ended up going off at turn 6 because of it. The impact is muffled in the video but it popped my hard top loose it was so violent. There's a really good sized drop off from the curbing to the kitty litter at the exit of 6 and it unfortunately damaged the car. I won't know the severity of the damage until Friday when I can get it on an alignment machine. The last video is my 1:50.778 by itself.

07-29-2012, 09:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Project: One powered by Garage Star Update: Follow me on Twitter and Instagram, my handle for both is @elliotmeme. Feel free to add me as a friend on Facebook as well. I'll be using all of those media outlets to provide updates from the track at each event. Thanks for clicking; I am honored to introduce my recently acquired track car, which is now powered by Kenjo and the Garage Star Team! I feel very privileged to be driving under the banner of one of the most respected small businesses within the Miata community. First and foremost, I must thank Ken yet again for the opportunity. Our goal with this chassis is to help promote the Garage Star brand of Miata parts and accessories, and also use the car for R&D of future Garage Star offerings so that YOU the customer can rest assure that you’re buying a quality product. My own personal goal is to not only assist Ken with his R&D, but to help to promote the Miata as a functional and economical track car, and promote myself as a developing driver. I will do my best to document any and all progress on the car from here on out, as well as provide feedback and answer questions regarding Garage Star products in use on this vehicle. So without further ado, here is Project One: Current Car Specs as of 7/29/12: Chassis: -1995 M Edition Miata -Flyin’ Miata Frame Rails -Garage Star license plate bracket Suspension: -949 Racing Xida Coilovers 550/350 -Flyin’ Miata NB front sway bar -Spherical adjustable sway bar end links front and rear Wheels & Tires: -15x9 949 Racing Gen2 6UL’s -225/45 Nitto NT01 tires Brakes: -Hawk HPS pads (HP+ brakes currently on order) -OEM rotors -SuperBlue DOT4 fluid Body: -Rolled and pulled fenders -Hood spacers -OEM Mazda hard top -R Package front lip Interior: -Garage Star hard top brackets -Garage Star 2.75” shift extender -Removal of all carpet -Removal of center console -Removal of door panels and speakers -Removal of stereo and glove compartment -Bride replica bucket seat -Hard Dog roll bar -Techno Toy Tuning JGTC nylon shift knob -Fully functioning a/c, p/s, cruise control Drivetrain: -Stock 1.8 long block -Stock intake, exhaust, and fuel systems -OEM clutch & flywheel -Stock 5 speed transmission -Stock 4.1 Torsen differential Future Plans Short Term: Continue to strip weight from the car and the driver, clean up the chassis and lay down paint in a few areas, and keep making shake down runs at the track to dial everything in for next season. Future Plans Long Term: Use the chassis as a test mule for all Garage Star products, and continue making drivetrain, suspension, brake, and driver modifications in order to help improve lap times. Be sure to check back for updates and keep up with the car and what’s happening at Garage Star by visiting the website. Pictures of Project One follow, please excuse the very dirty/dusty interior, I’ve not had time to clean it or paint it yet due to a tight schedule before the next event.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing Last edited by Spettro; 03-01-2013 at 01:43 PM.

07-29-2012, 09:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
garageSTAR Jr. Sponsor Join Date: May 2006 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,561	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star I can't wait for this beast to hit the track next month!
	__________________ \| Name: Kenjo \| Website: garagestar.com \| Email: garagestar@gmail.com \| Garage Star Facebook \| Purchase a garageSTAR license plate bracket by clicking HERE. \| GT Faction T-Shirts are on sale now! \|

07-29-2012, 10:13 PM	#3 (permalink)
del_barry Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: NOR OR Posts: 123	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Love it! Wish I lived near a badass company and didn't have a shitbox miata lol

07-31-2012, 07:50 PM	#6 (permalink)
carlosvasquez Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 718	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star What seat bracket do you have? Considering getting the same seat.

08-01-2012, 10:57 PM	#8 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Had a little time to tinker with the car tonight while I listened to the Giants and Mets game. Got some of the Garage Star Dress Up Bolts on the car. All of the bolts threaded in nicely and snugged up centered in the supplied washers first try, I am very pleased with the installation process. As a tip though, only do one bolt at a time for the fenders and bumper as taking them all out can cause the panel to shift out of the original alignment. Sorry for the nasty flash bulb pictures but one of the lights is out in my garage so I couldn't get good lighting.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

08-16-2012, 03:16 PM	#9 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star This update has been a long time coming, I've just been busy with a new job, getting ready for the track weekend, and then actually going to the track weekend, and hospital visits for my hand. I'll try to give a rundown of recent events though: I was able to get a pair of GarageStar tow hooks installed before the track weekend. These allowed me to eliminate the so-called baby teeth. The GarageStar tow hooks are incredibly strong (I can stand on them with no flexing) and they weigh about the same as one stock tow loop, so by removing the 4 stock loops and adding the two hooks, I lost a bit more weight off the car. I'm unsure of the exact weight of the tow hooks because I do not own a postal scale, but I'm sure Ken knows so feel free to ask him if you're looking into these. The tow hooks went on with ease in about 10 minutes each. The front hook has a hole cut-out for the GarageStar license plate bracket, so I was able to run the front plate to and from the track to keep the CA Highway Patrol happy. I also acquired a Spec Miata exhaust from my new boss to run at the track. It's loud but it meets the 103db maximum at Thunderhill Raceway Park. I think I'll get a header soon to match the straight through potential of the exhaust, although the OEM manifold worked well for the weekend. I also swapped in a JDM cluster I actually purchased from Ken a long time ago. I have plans to use this in a future retro NA build but for now it's right at home in Project: One. I can't seem to get the oil pressure gauge to work though, any thoughts? I'm assuming it's because I have a 95 so I have the dummy oil pressure gauge on the engine not the 90-94 active one, would changing the sensor fix the issue? And last to go on the car but certainly not least was a brand new set of Hawk HP+ pads all around with new OEM rotors, and a flushing of the brake fluid. Got this nice burnt look on the rotors after bedding the pads. It's a lot more colorful in person, al-la Amuse exhuast tip color. Then disaster struck. On Friday the 10th (the day I was leaving for the track) while working on getting one of the rusty bolts off the OEM exhaust, the nut stripped suddenly causing my right hand to smash into the transmission extremely hard (I was using maximum force with 2 opposing wrenches). At first I didn't think much of it; no blood, a little stinging, but I figured I was okay. Not so. After about an hour my hand was in extreme pain and I decided I needed to get it looked at, so I headed down to the Minor Injury clinic. The doctor looked at it and said I had broken something for sure but without xrays he wouldn't know exactly how bad. He suggested an xray which had a 3 hour wait and then casting it. I agreed but made a sneaky escape after leaving the MI clinic. I couldn't race with a cast! So I went home to ponder my options. After an hour of icing, the hand felt slightly better, and I have an abnormally high pain tolerance, so I took the grinder out and cut the bolt off the exhaust and got the new one installed by myself on the driveway with jack stands. By this time I was in massive pain so I checked my fluids, packed up the car, and hit the road for the track. I could barely sleep the night of the 10th at the motel due to the pain. I had it taped up and was icing it, but it kept me up most of the night. I thought about what I was going to do... it was my right hand, my shifting and steering hand, and if it had hurt badly shifting slowly at highway speeds on the way to the track, how bad was it going to be actually on the track? Saturday morning we got to the track early and set-up. My friends were nice enough to help me unload heavy items, rig my camera, and remove my passenger seat. I headed out on track for the first session of the day. The ambient temperature was already about 78 degrees at 8:45am, and the track was extremely slick. I had my hands full the entire first session, which was not a good thing considering my injury. I could barely get my right glove on due to the swelling in my hand. I ran my fastest time of the day in the first session at a 2:18.456 (ccw cyclone configuration) because as the temperature went up, the slower everyone got. The high for the day was recorded at 110 degrees, nasty... Sunday morning I was still in a lot of pain, but I was determined to run better that day. I sucked it up and headed out on track for the first session and clocked a 2:16.354 fast lap (ccw bypass configuration). After the 2nd session I was fed up with being held up by slower traffic (I was in the novice group), so I asked to be moved up a run group to the "Point-By" group. I had an instructor in the car for my 3rd session to evaluate me and make sure I'd do okay in the quicker group. He said I did perfectly and I even managed a 2:15.763 with him in the car. In the 4th session of the day, the ambient temp had climbed to about 98 degrees and I measured track temps with my IR gun at 148 degrees. I went balls out on my 2nd to last lap, to what I felt was the limit of the tires without over driving and over heating them. I managed a 2:14.020 lap, almost in the 13s, but not quite. The last session of the day I drove my friend's Miata to try and help him solve a handling issue, and managed a 2:22 in his car on the 2nd lap out (1.6, 4.1 torsen, stance gr+'s, stock sways, same wheels and tires as me but much older and harder). There is almost a 10mph difference between his car and mine down the front straight due to the engine size and gearing. Here's a video of my 2:14.020 lap. Keep in mind this is with a broken pinky knuckle and every shift sends searing pain through my body. This is how wheels look after a track day when used properly. Offset is nothing compared to rolled up rubber from pushing your car. Then on Tuesday, I made it back to the doctor for an xray. I should have asked for a copy but I forgot. The upper pinky knuckle is busted open like an acorn, so I got a fancy splint. Makes working a joke, and typing frustrating, but I have to keep it on so scar tissue doesn't build up inside the knuckle and cause me permanant pain for the rest of my life. I have another appointment for Thursday the 23rd to have the splint removed and it re-evaluated, but I'm headed back to the track the 24th. So I'll likely have it unsupported for the Friday so I can steer, and then I'll go get a cast the following Monday, but that will have to come off by September 15th because I'm trying to make a Buttonwillow weekend then... So we'll see, Buttonwillow might have to wait but if there is any way I can possibly race, I'm doing it. All in all it was an excellent weekend, I'm proud of my times considering this was my first time on track in over 4 years (used to race shifters, TAGs, gas powered indoor karts, and a few days in a Type R swapped EG hatch time attack car). And finally, yesterday I received a package from Ken at GarageStar with a brand spanking new cooling panel and a ton of stickers! Thanks Ken. If you plan to be at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, CA on August 24th with the NCRC group, come find me, have a chat, and grab a sticker! If you'd like a ride along you're more than welcome, I'll even try to borrow a spare helmet for those interested in case you don't own one. Admittance to the track is free if you're not participating, so come on down, sign the waver at the gate, and please keep your speed to 10mph in the Paddock when you go looking for where I'm pitted. I'm even going to try and drag Ken's butt out there for the day to get some photos and content for his site. Stay tuned for more updates, I'll try not to lag so hard between updates anymore but with my hand wrapped up working on the car is a little tough. I have a lot more video from the track I might upload, but my computer has a super slow upload rate so putting videos on youtube takes several hours. I'm wanting to do a video run-down of the car so look for that in the coming month as well as a "drive-and-talk" where I drive the car around and talk about what it's like to live with, track with, and work on. Thanks again to Ken at GarageStar for all the help and support. I appreciate all the help and support I get from everyone, including my parents, sister, friends Sam, Milton, and Ramez, and my new boss Dante. If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer, and if you're interested in helping support my run up to the Chrono series any help is greatly appreciated.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing Last edited by Spettro; 08-16-2012 at 05:48 PM.

08-16-2012, 04:37 PM	#10 (permalink)
etikoner Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Miami Beach, Fl. Posts: 2,512	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star I'm so jealous haha. This would be my car if I was in the west coast hahaha. Sucks about what happened to your hand, you're fucking crazy driving like that lol!!!! Hope it heals soon and that way you won't have to juggle between your health or a track day, lol... Also, I plan on swapping my gauges out for an older set... I think that changing the oil sender to an older one should make the gauge work I'm keeping my eye on this, it's pretty sweet.
	__________________ Call me Erick. Meet Mica - The story of my 95M Mr_Erick on Instagram Motion Motorsports\| SGS Racing\| Garage Star\| Miata Society

08-17-2012, 05:56 PM	#12 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Here's a full session video from Sunday. Finally finished uploading, holy crap Youtube is slow for uploading... I have a nice little off on my 2nd lap at turn 11 after passing a Viper. I simply came in too hot, it was my own fault. I go to the pits as per the event organizer's rules after the off to talk to the steward but I cut that out since you don't want to see 3 minutes of me trying to explain myself to her. This video includes my 2:14.020 lap which I made an individual video of. I have another session I'll try to upload as well, but it could take a couple days.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

08-23-2012, 09:47 PM	#13 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Got the cooling panel on this evening in the process of gearing up for the track tomorrow. Fits perfect as always, the install only took a few minutes, and hopefully it allows me more laps on track before the heat needle starts to creep into the hot range. I'll be sort of double sessioning the car tomorrow because I may be assisting the driving school group if needed, which requires me to be on track for all their sessions in my own car helping teach the new drivers where the racing line is and how to safely and properly pass at an HPDE by following them and leading them around on track. So this panel will get put to the test, as the driving school group is right before my group goes out, so the car will be on track for a little under an hour each time, although the driving school pace is no where near the limit of the cooling system since it's more about learning to drive on a track with other cars vs. just doing hot laps all day. I also went to the doctor this morning to get my hand re-evaluated (the splint came off yesterday). I was able to avoid getting a hard cast in favor of a removable splint/brace that I can take off when I'm driving, showering, eating, etc. After another round of x-rays I yet again forgot to request copies of, the doctor determined that the knuckle has partially rolled under the metacarpal and cannot be fixed. My knuckle will be forever slightly out of place, but I should regain full movement of my pinky within the next 4-6 weeks. The only sad news is there is a small piece of a tendon trapped between the knuckle and metacarpal, so the pain when I put stress on that area of my hand could last for a year, maybe 10, maybe 50+ he said. I guess the lesson here is think before you start pushing on a wrench about what your hand could hit if the bolt breaks or the wrench slips. That's the updates for the car and my hand for now, I doubt my hand will be making another update as this is a build thread not an injury thread, I just wanted to show you all why updates have been coming so slowly as of late since I've been limited and will continue to be for another month or so. But it's all good, because I leave tomorrow morning for another day at the track. I'll be taking video once again, and I'll try to figure out a little better camera position this time.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

08-26-2012, 11:02 PM	#14 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Spent the last 2 days uploading all my videos so I can put them all in one post. Some of them are still in the post youtube editing process to remove shaking and the black bars. The track day on the 24th was nuts, all kinds of on-track drama. A Corvette blew his engine in one of the groups and dropped oil all over the track causing a BMW to go out of control but the driver made one hell of a save. An S13 front 240sx blew a tire bead. And a few other cars I can't remember had to be towed or ended up having major problems. Project: One on the other had, did very well. I dropped my fastest time to a 2:12.326 CCW Bypass Configuration, which was 1.7 seconds faster than a couple weeks ago. I'm still 2.3 seconds off my goal, but at least I'm headed in the right direction (Spec Miata's run anywhere from 2:06's-2:08's on the same track in the same configuration as a comparison). I ended up instructing for driving school, which put me on track in my own car following and leading students around to teach them how to properly pass and drive the generic racing line in their own cars. 3 of their 5 sessions are "hot" sessions, where they are allowed to go as fast as they feel comfortable, so my car basically had 40 minute sessions at a time, as my run group was right after Driving School. The GarageStar cooling panel helped way more than I believed it ever would. Just two weeks ago I was overheating in the afternoon sessions after 10-15 minutes on track, and although the ambient temperature was about 10-12 degrees cooler this Friday, the car still didn't creep past the middle point on the tempurature gauge even after 40 minutes straight of hard driving. I was very impressed. If you drive your car agressively at all, even in the backroads, do yourself a favor and pick up a cooling panel from Ken. I'm sure results would be even better if I had a thick core aluminum radiator, which is on the near future modification list. Here are the videos from the day, sorry some are good quality and others aren't, I'm not very good at the whole youtube thing yet. This was my fast lap of the day at 2:12.326 in HD: These are the full sessions in order from 1-5. I had passengers in the 4th and 5th session so it's a little hard to see what's going on out the windshield, sorry. I have a nice little spin in session 1 at turn 11 yet again. In the 5th session I have a playful not-so-serious battle with my buddy Gagan in his Impreza toward the end of the video. The 3rd session was my most consistant with almost all of my laps being in the high 2:13 to low 2:14 range, with a high 2:12 mixed in there as well. I don't know what happened with the upload for session 4, it's all tiny, but I only did about 3 laps because I was about to run out of fuel anyway. Ken at GarageStar and I talked last night and there are a lot of parts in the works that are going to be tested on this car. I'm talking some really trick parts that are very functional, yet would provide benefits to street, stanced, slammed, show, or track Miatas. I can't spill any details just yet, but stay tuned, because the next 6 months could see a lot of prototype stuff go on this car in preperation for the Chrono series next year.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

08-26-2012, 11:06 PM	#15 (permalink)
vintagerust Jr. Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Tampa Posts: 95	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star (Crosses fingers for affordable, simple brake master cylinder brace.)
	__________________ '99 Emerald Mica NB. 01+ header, Toyota COPs, and a cold-side intake.

09-03-2012, 01:18 PM	#16 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Got a few minutes this morning to work on the car, so I removed the cruise control since it hasn't worked ever since installing the JDM cluster. Doesn't weigh much so not sure I'll see any benefit other than the engine bay being less cluttered. I also picked up some new stickers from Ken on Saturday, so look for those to be on the car before Buttonwillow. I'm headed up to Ken's today to get a new rollbar as well with a harness bar so I can ditch this stock seatbelt and order a harness. After that I'll be ordering a new steering wheel set-up. None of this will make the car go faster, but it'll make me a bit more comfortable in the car which should help me focus more on the driver mod. Planning to sell the current Hard Dog bar probably, but if I decide to keep it for some reason it may go in Project: Two.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

09-03-2012, 01:31 PM	#17 (permalink)
viice Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Ottawa, KS Posts: 121	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Which Spec Miata exhaust did you say that was?

09-14-2012, 02:54 PM	#19 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star I've been really busy with school starting back up and everything and I'm pressed for time today as I'm trying to get on the road and still need to pack up a few things. But here's a quick update with some junky cell phone pictures from my vintage blackberry. I installed an EGR roll bar, but only to find out that is restricted my seat travel due to being on OEM rails with a bucket seat, so I had to remove it and return to my Hard Dog, which I bought a harness bar for. Ken has something that he will be releasing soon to fix this problem though! I also bought a Crow 6 point harness with a Kam Lock system. It's an excellent belt, I can't wait to try it out this weekend. I'll get pictures of it up soon. Yesterday I took the car into the automotive school I attend and got all the fluids changed or checked out and made sure all the suspension and brakes were in good shape. Everything checked out fine. Headed off to Buttonwillow in a few hours for a weekend track day and Chrono Series event. I'm not running in Chrono until next year, but my buddies Ramez and Marios are both in 2nd place in their respective classes and are hoping to take the championship in S2K Modified and GT1 respectively. Ramez obviously runs an S2000, Marios has a Evo 9. If you're going to be at Buttonwillow this weekend stop by and say hello and grab a sticker. Bring a helmet if you want a ride along, I will have my passenger seat with me. Always happy to chat with fellow Miata owners. Big sticker is big. Thanks to Ken at Garage Star for everything. I'll report back with an update after the weekend I'm sure.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

09-14-2012, 03:54 PM	#20 (permalink)
xbeatles4x Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 1,799	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Damn. if only you were closer we could switch hardtops.
	__________________ My Miata Build 92 Base, White, Boss Frog Double Hoop, 95M rims, R Front Lip, FM Frame Rails, FM Stage 2.5, RB Header, JR Intake and more to come. My Volvo Build White 2006 S60 T5

09-17-2012, 11:59 PM	#22 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star The car managed to survive the 1200 kilometers I put on it over the weekend. Buttonwillow was a great experience for me. I learned a lot about the car and how to drive it that I can now apply to other tracks I go to. We ran CW Config 1 on Saturday and CCW Config 1 on Sunday. That Star Mazda turn going CCW really forces you to be on your game, I was hanging the tail out under braking almost every lap and barely keeping the thing from going sideways into the dirt. I also really enjoyed rally jumping the curbing at the Bus Stop all weekend, although I think I might have bent one or two of my 6ULs or possibly stretched some lug studs, I won't be able to check until Thursday though. No videos from this weekend, sorry. Ken showed up on Sunday and took some pictures so as soon as he emails them to me I'll post those up. Ken, get on your game man! I ran a 2:19.1 CW and a 2:20.1 CCW for my fast times of the weekend. No idea if that's good or not since most track day groups and race series don't run the #1 Configuration, but I felt like I was pushing the car very hard both days. Both of my friends won the championships in Chrono S2K Modified and Chrono GT1 on Sunday, so well done to them. Check back for pictures from the track weekend as well as an update as to whether I'll need to dig into my stockpile of 6UL spares...
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

09-18-2012, 02:40 AM	#23 (permalink)
garageSTAR Jr. Sponsor Join Date: May 2006 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,561	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star
	__________________ \| Name: Kenjo \| Website: garagestar.com \| Email: garagestar@gmail.com \| Garage Star Facebook \| Purchase a garageSTAR license plate bracket by clicking HERE. \| GT Faction T-Shirts are on sale now! \| Last edited by garageSTAR; 09-18-2012 at 01:05 PM.

10-05-2012, 09:59 PM	#24 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Long time no post. The car has been pretty dormant since work has picked up for me a lot lately and I don't have a ton of time to work on this thing, plus I might end up swapping to Project: Two for the track next year so I'm not sure how much more I'll be adding to this chassis, but we'll see. Currently the car is at Limitless Motorsport in San Bruno, CA getting some prototype Garage Star fender braces installed. I will be testing these out in a week at Thunderhill Raceway to give Ken feedback on the performance of the braces. I'll be sure to post my testing results here as well. If you want to see what the fender braces look like on my car check out the Garage Star Facebook page.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

10-06-2012, 07:43 AM	#25 (permalink)
spitefulcheerio Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 2,310	Jelly can't wait for my set
	__________________ GarageStar Visit GS 2001 SE NB Racekor: Build Thread If I've ever sold you a part or bought something from you, please leave me some feedback!

10-06-2012, 10:59 AM	#26 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star They will be released very soon don't worry, Ken just wants to make sure they are going to be 100% solid for track and street use before taking them to market.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

10-14-2012, 06:54 PM	#27 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Couple videos from Friday below. I was testing the new Garage Star fender braces. Temperatures were very cool which assisted in a new fast lap record for myself. Seems as though it's time for new brakes already unfortunately. 7 events was all I could manage out of them so I'll be looking into Carbotechs perhaps this time. Hawk HP+'s just aren't cutting it anymore, time to step up to Blues or maybe something similar from Carbotech or another company. Also might be time for some tires, my NT01s still have plenty of rubber left on them but I thnk they're about heat cycled out. I might try R888s next when I get new tires. I'd love to step up to a DOT R-Comp2 tire like the R6, but since I don't have a truck or trailer I'm out of luck there. Here are the videos with my new Go Pro. I'm still trying to figure out how to use all the functions and I only have a 4GB memory card currently so I could only record 2 sessions of video unfortunately. Hopefully next time I'll be able to record all my sessions. In the 2nd session video I take a Subaru on the outside of turn 3, but apparently there was a yellow flag for the spin way over at turn 5a being displayed at 3 I didn't see so I got black flagged. Kind of lame but nothing I can really do about it. In the 3rd session video I chase my teammate Justin around for a few laps before lets me by. A couple laps later I go rallying near the turn 3 exit to show all the Subarus and Evos how it's done. The last video is just my one hot lap on its own.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

10-21-2012, 11:23 PM	#28 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Life's been giving me a rough go of it, so I made a very last minute decision last night to sign up for a Laguna Seca track day today. I was totally not in the right frame of mind to be at the track and as a result I ended up doing some damage to the car after dropping wheels off at the exit of turn 6. The curbing has a good sized drop off to the dirt and I bottomed the car out really hard. The suspension and/or subframe is likely damaged, the alignment is out of wack, and the car is now making a creaking noise during left hand corners similar to a creepy door closing noise from a horror movie. Really praying I didn't screw up a shock body as I can't afford a new set of Xidas right now. We'll see. Videos will be up later in the week, stay tuned. I'll be putting the car on a lift and alignment rack as soon as possible to inspect the extent of the damage.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

10-22-2012, 12:19 PM	#29 (permalink)
etikoner Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Miami Beach, Fl. Posts: 2,512	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star ouch hope it's not too bad man..
	__________________ Call me Erick. Meet Mica - The story of my 95M Mr_Erick on Instagram Motion Motorsports\| SGS Racing\| Garage Star\| Miata Society

10-24-2012, 12:07 AM	#30 (permalink)
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	Re: Project: One powered by Garage Star Sorry this isn't really much of a build thread, I can see there's not a ton of interest which I expected since I'm more just driving the car then actually adding stuff to it. But I did just order some parts that should be here next week that I'll be throwing on the car so hopefully that will make this thread a bit more exciting than just amature hour onboard videos in every post. Here are the videos from Sunday at Laguna Seca. Please keep in mind this was my first time ever at this track so in the first session I look like a rookie trying to figure out exactly what line I want to take through each corner. Ended up with a fast lap of the day at a 1:50.778, which is very disappointing. I'm about 3 seconds off the pace of the fast Spec Miata guys, but that time would probably qualify me around 10th-15th on the grid of say 45 cars, which frankly isn't good enough for me. I'll be back to Laguna though, probably at the very end of December. Hopefully I'm in a better frame of mind next time so I go faster and don't make lots of stupid mistakes that cost me time and damage to the chassis. Videos follow, here's a quick run down of what went on if you care to read: In session one I was just trying to figure out where my car had grip and where it didn't and get an idea for how quickly I could get through each corner individually. The session was shortened because I think a 350Z blew a transmission or sheered off a clutch fork or something, and someone else had an issue on track somewhere so they needed time to bring out the tow trucks. In the second session I went much quicker, and about 3-4 laps into the session I started hunting down a Type-997 GT3RS, be sure to check that out if you're a fan of the Miata's track potential. The third session went alright I guess, I was having fun trying to catch people and I was experimenting with different lines and braking points to see if I could find more speed anywhere. In the 4th session I was again experimenting with different things on the track until I made a really, really stupid rookie mistake and ended up going off at turn 6 because of it. The impact is muffled in the video but it popped my hard top loose it was so violent. There's a really good sized drop off from the curbing to the kitty litter at the exit of 6 and it unfortunately damaged the car. I won't know the severity of the damage until Friday when I can get it on an alignment machine. The last video is my 1:50.778 by itself.
Spettro Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 954	__________________ Project: One \| Powered by Garage Star, Limitless Motorsport Twitter: @elliotmeme \| Instagram: @elliotmeme \| Facebook: Elliot Meme Racing

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